Corner joints between angularly related, molded walls and structures utilizing them

ABSTRACT

A novel joint structure is provided for molded wall members which may be designed, for example, to be combined into sides and ends of model railway cars, model buildings suitable for use as wayside scenery in model railway setups, or in any box, box tray, fence or other enclosure. At the corner of structure, angularly related walls are brought into abutting relation. Each wall end has integral with it one or more interiorly located, channelforming brackets whose open sides face toward the opposite end of the wall from that of which it forms a part. If there are two or more brackets on a wall end, they are aligned vertically with one another and spaced apart, the construction and arrangement being such that the brackets integral with abutting walls can be aligned and can be dependably and fixedly united with one another by the mere sliding into place of a locking member.

States atent [72] Inventors Clarence K. Edwards 865 Morrison St.; Lawrence D. Edwards, 2816 Rosemont Ave., both of Mediord, Oreg. 97501 [21] Appl. No. 26,910 [22] Filed Apr. 9, 1970 [45] Patented Nov. 9, 1971 [54] CORNER JOINTS BETWEEN ANGULARLY RELATED, MOLDED WALLS AND STRUCTURES UTILIZING THEM 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 287/20.92 D, 287/20.92 K, 52/586, 46/31, 46/218 [51] Int. Cl Fl6b 5/07 [50] Field of Search 287/20.92

R, 20.92 C, 20.92 D, 20.92 DB, 20.92 E, 20.92 K, 20.92 T, 189.36 D; 52/586, 284, 285; 46/21, 31,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,441,343 1/1923 I-lartshom ..287/20.92 D UX 1,375,212 4/1921 Crone ..287/20.92C UX 3,302,351 2/1967 Trulaske ..287/l89.36 H X 2,866,239 12/1958 Lambert et al. 287/20.92 K

571,366 11/1896 Hegarty 2237/2092 T FOREIGN PATENTS 831,763 1952 Germany 287/20.92 D

Primary Examiner- David J Williamowsk y Assistant ExaminerWayne L. Shedd Attorney-Clarence M. Crews ABSTRACT: A novel joint structure is provided for molded wall members which may be designed, for example, to be combined into sides and ends of model railway cars, model buildings suitable for use as wayside scenery in model railway setups, or in any box, box tray, fence or other enclosure. At the corner of structure, angularly related walls are brought into abutting relation. Each wall end has integral with it one or more interiorly located, channel-forming brackets whose open sides face toward the opposite end of the wall from that of which it forms a part. If there are two or more brackets on a wall end, they are aligned vertically with one another and spaced apart, the construction and arrangement being such that the brackets integral with abutting walls can be aligned and can be dependably and fixedly united with one another by the mere sliding into place ofa locking member.

CORNER JOINTS BETWEEN ANGULARLY RELATED, MOLDED WALLS AND STRUCTURES UTILIZING THEM This invention relates to structures in the form of enclosures such, for example, as molded model railway box cars and passenger cars, molded railway stations and other wayside buildings, and molded boxes, box trays, fences and the like. The term molded as used herein is intended to include diecast."

It is common practice today to mold the body of a model railway box car or passenger car (including sides, ends and roof) as a single, integral structure. This is an economical procedure in the sense that manual assembly of parts is simplified. In most instances, however, the advantage of onepiece construction is more than offset by cost of the die and of time, material and labor. One-piece molding of a car body is generally practiced where a large quantity of a given part is required. Where small quantities are required, the greatly increased die costs may not be justified. In addition, painting and decorating then becomes a much more complicated and multistage process. When each side and end is molded as a separate, flat part, handling, storing, painting, decorating, packaging, etc. are much simplified, the result being a very substantial overall saving.

We have found that by making the mold so that it will provide integral, vertically alignable, interiorly located, channelforming brackets on the ends of the side and end walls, whose open sides face toward the opposite ends of the walls of which they respectively from parts, the required rigid assembly can be realized by the mere sliding into place of a single-locking member at each corner of the composite structure.

It is possible, of course, to design a mold for making any desired number of end walls at a single operation, and a mold for making any desired number of sidewalls at a single operation. Alternatively, a mold may be designed to make both end walls and both sidewalls of a car, house or box at a single operation. The same principles may be followed for other manufactures.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing forming part of the specification,

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation showing an illustrative model railway passenger car which constitutes a now preferred, practical and advantageous embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the four lateral walls of the car laid out in a common plane with their inner faces exposed to view;

FIG. 3 is a simplified, greatly enlarged view of adjacent wall ends which are to be brought into abutting relation and united through the insertion of a locking pin through their aligned brackets;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, perspective view of an interior corner of the car body, with the comer brackets lined up and the locking pin about to be inserted; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but on a smaller scale, showing a modified form of end wall, sidewall and locking member.

For illustrative purposes a model railway passenger car 10, composed largely of molded plastic parts, is shown in FIG. 1. The car comprises a roof 12, end walls 14, sidewalls 6, a floor 18 which extends beyond the end walls to provide platforms, platform guard fences 20 integral with the floor 18, and wheels 22. Each of the six principal parts, roof, floor, two sidewalls and two end walls, is a single-distinct member. The sidewalls 16 include downward extensions 24 which simulate trucks and springs.

The invention is chiefly concerned with the end walls 14 and the sidewalls 16, and the union of these walls with one another. The floor 18 does, however, provide partial, rectangularly related abutment surfaces for engagement with the side and end walls, and the roof includes like features for contributin g to the solidity and rigidity of the assembled structure. Wheels, platforms, couplers and the like are merely incidental features which will not be further referred to.

The sidewalls 16 are desirably essential duplicates of one another and the end walls 14 are desirably essential duplicates of one another. All of the four comers formed by adjoining side and end walls are alike, so that a description of one will suffice for all.

The walls 14 and 16 desirably have beveled ends 26 and 28, respectively, which abut one another. At the inner extremity of each beveled end 26, each end wall 14 has integral with it a plurality of U-shaped channel brackets 30-two as shown. The brackets are duplicates of one another, each having three inner edges, as viewed in FIG. 3, of equal length, and being of uniform thickness. The open sides of the brackets, in each instance, face toward the opposite end of the wall of which they form parts.

At each inner extremity each end wall 14 has integral with it one or more channel brackets 30-two as shown. At each inner extremity each sidewall 16 has integral with it one or more channel brackets 32-three as shown. In horizontal crosssectional dimensions the brackets 32 are desirably duplicates of one another and of the brackets 30. The brackets 30 and 32 are located at different levels, being so offset with reference to one another vertically that they may be brought into interdigital, aligned relation by placing the beveled ends 26 and 28 of two of the walls 14 and 16 in abutting relation. It is not essential, or even important, that the spaces between brackets 32 be completely filled by the brackets 30, but it is essential that the two sets of brackets be relatively located so that a locking member 29 can be thrust into fitting engagement with channels of all of them for locking the walls 14 and 16 in fixed relation to one another.

When the brackets are so aligned, they jointly form a sectional, square passageway in which the rigid cylindrical pin 29 can be snugly fitted. Not only do the beveled faces 26 and 28 engage one another, opposing and preventing further approach of the walls 14 and 16, but the base walls 36 of brackets 32, which coincide with sidewalls 38 of brackets 30, engage, and limit southward movement of, wall 14, while the base walls 40 of brackets 30, which coincide with sidewalls 42 of brackets 32 engage, and limit eastward movement, wall 16. The inserted locking member is prevented from moving northward by the base walls 36 of brackets 32, and in turn blocks northward movement of sidewalls 44 of brackets 30, so that wall 14 is securely held against northward as well as southward movement relative to wall 16. Similarly, the locking pin, acting on sidewalls 46 of the brackets 32, blocks westward movement of wall 16, so that the wall 16 can move neither eastward or westward relative to the wall 14.

An alternative form of interlocking construction is illustrated in FIG. 5. The end wall 14a is molded to provide at each end one or more channel brackets 30a, each having its open side disposed to face toward the opposite end of the wall. In this instance each bracket consists of a base wall 40a, and an inner wall 440, there being no thickening of the end wall 14a to provide a wall corresponding to the wall 38 of FIG. 3. In this instance each bracket 30a is set inward from the inner extremity of the wall 14a. As before, however, the brackets, being integral with the respective walls, are channel forming. Each bracket 30 is set inward from the inner extremity of the wall 14a.

The sidewall 16a and its brackets 32a are of like construction, each bracket comprising a base wall 360, an inner wall 46a and the sidewall itself, but no thickening of the sidewall 16a to provide a wall corresponding to the wall 42. Each bracket 32a is set inward from the inner extremity of the wall 16a.

When brought together, the side and end wall brackets appear in plan to form a cross. The locking member 29a, instead of being a simple, straight pin, takes the cross-sectional form illustrated in FIG. 5, being shaped to embrace the inner walls 440 and 46a of the side and end wall brackets. The mere thrusting into place of the locking member 29a therefore effects a firm and dependable locking together of the walls 14a and 16a.

The invention is not, of course, limited to model railway cars, but may be applied to miniature buildings and any other structures in which its principle may be utilized.

The molding of the walls, with integral brackets as shown, involves a special construction and arrangement of die parts to provide for parting of the mold in desired locations and the movements and timing of movements of the mold parts relative to one another. Since the requisite mold design is a routine matter for those skilled in the art, it is not thought necessary to explain it in detail.

We have described what we believe to the best embodiments of our invention.

We claim:

1. A joint structure comprising, in combination, a pair of distinct, contiguous angularly related wall members having bevelled ends in abutting relation and a locking member through which the wall members are united, said wall members including on its closely adjacent to said end bevels and inner faces, as integral parts thereof, channel forming brackets, each of which brackets has an open side faced toward the end of the wall member opposite to the end of which it forms an integral part, said channel forming brackets of the two wall members being disposed at nonconflicting levels, so that they may be placed in at least partially aligned, interdigital relation with one another, in positions to have the common locking member thrust endwise into fitting relation with, the channel portions thereof for blocking movement of each wall member and thereby effecting a dependable joining of the two wall members in fixed, rigid relation to one another.

2. A joint structure as set forth in claim 1 in which the interengaging end walls of the wall members extend obliquely outward.

3. A joint structure as set forth in claim 1 in which each wall member including the integral brackets thereof, is formed of moldable material and is adapted by virtue of the open sides of its brackets, to be molded at a single operation.

4. A rectangular enclosure having joint structures of the kind set forth in claim 1 at all four corners.

S. A joint structure as set forth in claim 1 in which the integrally molded brackets jointly define a single hollow rectangular passage and the locking member is a simple pin confined in the rectangular passage and engaging all the interior surfaces of said passage forming brackets.

6. A joint structure as set forth in claim 1 in which the brackets jointly form a cross and the locking member is formed with a passage which includes channels for receiving and fitting projecting, free portions of the brackets of both walls.

a s 1: a

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,618 gq1 Dated November L 1971 lnventofls) Clarence K. Edwards, et a1 It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 18, before "including" insert each same line before "c1osely insert inner face--; and in line 19, cancel "inner faces".

Signed and sealed this 10th day of October 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. A joint structure comprising, in combination, a pair of distinct, contiguous angularly related wall members having bevelled ends in abutting relation and a locking member through which the wall members are united, said wall members including on its closely adjacent to said end bevels and inner faces, as integral parts thereof, channel forming brackets, each of which brackets has an open side faced toward the end of the wall member opposite to the end of which it forms an integral part, said channel forming brackets of the two wall members being disposed at nonconflicting levels, so that they may be placed in at least partially aligned, interdigital relation with one another, in positions to have the common locking member thrust endwise into fitting relation with, the channel portions thereof for blocking movement of each wall member and thereby effecting a dependable joining of the two wall members in fixed, rigid relation to one another.
 2. A joint structure as set forth in claim 1 in which the interengaging end walls of the wall members extend obliquely outward.
 3. A joint structure as set forth in claim 1 in which each wall member including the integral brackets thereof, is formed of moldable material and is adapted by virtue of the open sides of its brackets, to be molded at a single operation.
 4. A rectangular enclosure having joint structures of the kind set Forth in claim 1 at all four corners.
 5. A joint structure as set forth in claim 1 in which the integrally molded brackets jointly define a single hollow rectangular passage and the locking member is a simple pin confined in the rectangular passage and engaging all the interior surfaces of said passage forming brackets.
 6. A joint structure as set forth in claim 1 in which the brackets jointly form a cross and the locking member is formed with a passage which includes channels for receiving and fitting projecting, free portions of the brackets of both walls. 